1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bags for use in the laundry and dry cleaning industry for holding and transporting articles of clothing and more particularly to a convertible counter/dry cleaning bag for holding laundry and transporting dry cleaning having a side gusset with a zipper and a garment receiving entrance with a drawstring, wherein moving the zipper to the open position causes the side gusset to open and combine with the garment receiving entrance to form a single large opening to facilitate the insertion and removal of garments into and out of the bag.
2. Description of Prior Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Dry cleaning establishments often provide the service of collecting soiled garments from customers and returning the garments to the customers after they are processed by the dry cleaner, Those establishments commonly provide the customer with a large fabric bag, known as a counter bag, in which the customer places the garments that require processing by the dry cleaner.
The dry cleaner picks up the counter bag with the soiled garments from the customer and brings it back to the establishment where the garments ace removed from the bag and processed. After the garments are processed, the dry cleaner bangs the processed garments on a hanger and places a thin transparent disposable plastic bag over the processed garments for protection during transport back to the customer.
A conventional counter bag has a wide garment receiving entrance to permit the garments to be easily inserted into and removed from the bag. A drawstring encircles the bag proximate the opening. The drawstring is provided to close the entrance of the bag during transport so that the garments cannot accidentally fall out of the bag and become soiled, lost or damaged.
The drawstring is commonly held in place within a channel proximate to and surrounding the garment entrance of the bag. The channel may be formed by folding the fabric of the bag over and sewing the free end of the fold to the body of the bag. The channel is interrupted at one point so a portion of the drawstring can extend outside the channel and be grasped by the user. That enables the user to pull the exposed portion of the drawstring in a direction away from the bag to close the entrance.
Garment bags are known in the art. A garment bag is a fabric bag that is large enough and shaped appropriately to at least partially cover one or more garments supported on a hanger. The garment bag has a small opening at the top through which the hook portion of the hanger extends, when the hanging garments are placed in the bag, it may have an open or a closed bottom.
A conventional garment bag often has an opening with a zipper extending along a substantial portion of its length. The opening permits the hanging garments to be inserted into and removed from the bag. Once the garments are inside, the garment bag the zipper is used to close the opening so that the processed garments are protected.
A garment bag could be used by the dry cleaner to protect processed garments as they are transported back to a customer, instead of the conventional disposable plastic bags. A garment bag would offer greater protection for the processed garments than the disposable plastic bags. Moreover, the use of a garment bag in that manner would be ecologically friendly as it would eliminate the use of many disposable plastic bags.
However, fabric garment bags are much too expensive for a single use. Further, they would have to be collected from the customer by the dry cleaner for reuse after the customer has removed the garments, That would mean many extra trips by the dry cleaner to the customer which would waste fuel, lead to more vehicle maintenance and require additional labor.
Accordingly, a single garment carrier has been developed to function both as a counter bag and as a garment bag. That carrier can be used to transport garments from the customer to the dry cleaner for processing and also to return the processed garments to the customer from the dry cleaner. Thus, the single carrier serves both purposes. Further, it is ecologically friendly in that it eliminates the use of disposable plastic bags and at the same time does not require a separate trip by the dry cleaner to retrieve the bag from the customer after the processed garments are removed.
The carrier can function as a counter bag, when used in a first orientation, and as a garment bag, designed for use with a hanger with a hook portion, when used in a second orientation. Some convertible carriers consist of a flexible fabric bag-like main section and an extendible section. The main section has a large garment receiving opening at one end and a small hanger hook portion receiving opening at the other end. The extendible section extends from the portion of the main section proximate the garment receiving entrance and is movable between a position within the main section, when the carrier functions as a counter bag, and a position outside the main section, to extend the main section to more protect the processed garments, when the carrier functions as a garment bag.
One such convertible carrier is disclosed in Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0006459 to Foley. That application discloses a reusable cleaning bag having a dual purpose as a hanging garment cover and a tote bag.
When the Foley convertible bag is used as a counter bag, a drawstring situated proximate the entrance of the main section is used to close the bag. The drawstring surrounds the carrier and functions in a conventional manner to close the opening of the main section when the drawstring is drawn away for the bag.
In one orientation, with extendible section situated within the main section and the garment receiving entrance located at the top, the carrier functions as a counter bag. Soiled garments are placed into the main section through the opening and the drawstring is used to close the opening during transport to the dry cleaner.
In a second orientation, with the extendible section situated outside of the main section and the hanger hook receiving opening located at the top, the carrier functions as a garment bag. The processed garments are placed on one or more hangers. The carrier is then placed over the hanging garments and the hook portion of each hanger is received through the small hanger hook opening at the top. In this way, the processed garments are protected as they are transported by the dry cleaner back to the customer.
After the customer receives the processed garments, the garments are removed from the carrier, the extendible section is folded back into the main section, and the orientation of the carrier is reversed so that the garment receiving entrance is located at the top. The customer puts the next batch of soiled garments into the carrier and it is once again ready for pick up by the dry cleaner.
The above described carrier works well as a two way carrier for the customer as well as for the dry cleaner. However, it is sometimes difficult to get the garments in and out of the carrier when the carrier functions as a garment bag. The dry cleaner must insert the processed garments into the carrier. The customer must remove the processed garments from the carrier. However, unlike many conventional garment bags, the convertible carrier has no opening along the front or side to facilitate access to the interior of the carrier. Incorporating such an opening into the carrier is not possible in the conventional convertible carrier because the front or side opening, in order to be long enough to facilitate garment insertion and removal, would intersect the plane of the drawstring. Hence, the front or side opening would interfere with the function of the drawstring because to function properly, the drawstring must encircle the entire bag proximate the garment receiving entrance.
In order to address that problem, the bag disclosed in my patent application published as Pub. No. 2011/0000803 was invented. That garment carrier is convertible to function as a counter bag, in a first orientation, and a garment bag for use with a hanger with a hook, in a second orientation. The main section of the carrier includes a relatively large garment receiving entrance at one end and a relatively small hanger hook receiving opening at the other end.
An opening with a zipper is provided to permit insertion and removal of garments. A drawstring is provided for closing the garment receiving entrance of the main section. The opening is situated on the front wall of the carrier and intersects the plane of the drawstring, which includes first and second separate drawstring sections. Each of the drawstring sections has an end anchored to the main section. The anchor points of the drawstring sections are at respective points on opposite sides of the opening, such that the opening does not interfere with the operation of the drawstrings. The carrier has an extendable section which depends from the main section and is movable between a position within the main section, when the carrier functions as a counter bag, and a position outside the main section, when the carrier functions as a garment bag.
The opening in the front wall of the bag extends along the main section and partially along the extended section, but ends at a point spaced from the garment receiving entrance at the end of extended section. Processed garments from the dry cleaner are inserted into the bag and removed from the bag through the opening. This configuration improves access to the interior of the bag as compared to prior convertible bags but insertion and removal of garments from the bag can still be difficult because the front opening does not open the extended portion of the bag completely.
It is known to incorporate side gussets in garment bags in order to increase the size of the interior of the bag and permit a greater number of garments to be contained in the bag. It is also known to place the opening for the zipper at the side of the bag, see U.S. Pat. No. 8,235,206 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 20120241484. However, in no laundry or dry cleaning bag having a drawstring which closes the garment receiving entrance does the zipper opening extend to the opening at the end of the extended portion. Thus, even when the zipper is moved to its open position, there is limited access to the interior of the bag and the insertion and removal of garments into and out of the bag can be difficult.